Test Cricket Tours - South Africa to Australia 1910-11
Tour of Australia 1910-11Captain: Percy Sherwell
Second official Test tour
First Test-playing tour of Australia by South Africa
(October 1910-
March 1911)
South Africa had beaten an MCC touring team in 1909-10 by three Test matches to two, played on matting pitches, and there was speculation how their googly bowlers would fare against a formidable Australian side on turf. From the first day of the Test series on which Australia powered to a record 494 runs, the bowlers failed to gain an upper hand. Vogler was most disappopinting but Schwarz at least ended the series with 25 wickets. Faulkner showed amply that he had taken over Monty Noble’s reputation as the world greatest all-round cricketer.
South Africa lost four Tests but recorded a great victory in the third match at Adelaide, the heaviest scoring Test match played.
The Australian Board of Control insisted on this tour as a preliminary to the 1912 Triangular Tournament but could not give satisfactory cash guarantees to the South African Cricket Authority. Unsettled by the wariness of Major Trevor, they decided to abandon the tour in early June 1910. By the end of the month The Sun newspaper had offered to meet their financial demands but South Africa declined it on a point of principle; whereupon the Australian Board ended the deadlock by producing adequate guarantees, and the tour was on again. However, negotiations for the team to include touring New Zealand in their programme did fall through.
‘Tip’ Snooke and Gordon White said they could not risk their prospects of promotion in the mining groups emplying them and withdrew on 21 September until two days later Snooke reconsidered his decision.
Slow bowlers:Ernie Vogler, Reggie Schwarz, Sid Pegler (and Jimmy Sinclair).
Fast bowler: Sibley ‘Tip’ Snooke
T Campbell
T
28
second WK
J M M Commaille
WP
27
RHB
G A Faulkner
T
28
RHBLBG
C M H Hathorn
(T)
32
RHB
C B Llewellyn
(N)
34
LHBLM
A W Nourse
N
32
LHBLFM
C O C Pearse
N
26
RHB(RM)
S J Pegler
T
22
LB / RM
R O Schwartz
T
35
RHBOB / LBGvice-captain
P W Sherwell
(T)
30
RHBWKcaptain
S J Snooke
T
29
RFM
L A Stricker
T
26
RHBopener
A E E Vogler
T
34
LBG
J W Zulch
T
24
RHBopener
The Union of South Africa came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the previously separate colonies (Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal and Orange River Colony)
Representation of teams:
N – Natal (3)
T – Transvaal (10)
WP - Western Province (1)
Hathorn and Sherwell had not represented Transvaal for five years, nor Llewellyn Natal
Average age ofteam at time of first Test match (9 December 1910) : 29 yrs11 months.
Mr R P Fitzgerald was named as manager. He was a native of Victoria but resident in Cape Town.
Unavailable:Percy Sherwell looked unlikely to be available to lead the tour owing to business reasons. Frank Mitchell was standing by.South Africa’s only fast bowler Johannes Kotze was unavailable.
A preliminary tour squad was announced including opening batsman Archie Difford (Transvaal) and Frank Mitchell.
Tour Party Announced :12 September 1910.
Withdrawal:G C White (T) 28and S.J. Snooke, who then changed his mind.
W S Taberer (Rhodesia),H W Taylor (Natal)and F L le Roux (Transvaal) were mentioned as possible replacements for White, but eventually Sinclair was brought into the squad.
Not selected : fast bowler Norton (Cape Colony), slow left-armer Claude Carter (Transvaal).
Time between selection and departure from South Africa
25 days
(12 September to 7 October)
Travel
Pegler left his home for Durban on 23 September and he, Pearse and Nourse went to Cape Town on the 'Walmer Castle'. The Johannesburg players left for the Cape on Monday 3 October by rail.
There were pre-tour practice matches against Transvaal and Western Province.
On 6 October the Blue Anchor liner 'Commonwealth' arrived from London. Llewellyn, after his final county appearance for Hampshire, had sailed on it. Now the rest of the team boarded the ship at Cape Town docks.Manager Fitzgerald took his wife, four children and nurse. White was still undecided on the day of departure about whether to join the tour.
Leaving Cape Town on 7 October, the steamer touched no Australian port before finally berthing at Port Adelaide on 26 October.
Time spent in
145 days
(26 October - 20 March)
On-tour selection panel
Sherwell, Nourse, Faulkner and Fitzgerald.
Reinforcements
P.Addison and M C Blackett played in the pre-tour practice match against Western Province until Hathorn and Commaille arrived. Mortimer Blackett was a reporter for the Johannesburg Star accompanying the team to Australia.
J H Sinclair
T
34
RHBLB
On 29 October, when the team was already in Australia, it was announced that Jimmy Sinclair would come in for White.Sinclair arrived in Melbourne on 27 November.
Hathorn’s health was too poor for him to continue the tour for the last two months. It was intended he would return early to South Africa but he remained in Victoria until the end of the tour.
•Aubrey Faulkner scored South Africa’s first Test double century, 204, at Melbourne.
•Faulkner scored another century (115) in the victory at Adelaide and five other fifties, giving him a record series aggregate of 732 runs subsequently exceeded by Walter Hammond and Don Bradman. It remains South Africa’s highest run total in a series.
•Zulch (105) and Snooke (103) also scored centuries in the Adelaide Test match.
•Reggie Schwarz took 25 wickets in the series, including five wickets in an innings twice.
•Billy Zulch rounded off the series with an innings of 150 at Sydney.
Tour Summary
excluding pre-tour matches
P
W
L
D
Aban
Test Matches
5
1
4
0
-
Other first-class matches
10
5
3
2
-
Minor matches
7
6
1
0
-
All Matches
22
12
8
2
-
Return to South Africa
On 22 March Schwarz sailed from Melbourne on the ‘Otranto’ for England (where he was private secretary to Sir Abe Bailey).Faulkner remained for a few weeks’ stay in Melbourne before returning to South Africa.
The team sailed home in the ‘Ascanius’, departing from Port Adelaide on Monday 20 March 1911.
They arrived back in Durban on Mondau 10 April 1911 and Cape Town the next day.In response to shouts of ‘speech!’ Sherwell admitted they had not come back victorious because they were beaten by a better side.
Time away from South Africa186 days
(7 October - 11 April
Finances
The Australian public supported the tour well and a profit was returned.
Vogler’s fee for the tour (£475) was withheld by the South African Cricket Union because they believed his performances were affected by excessive drinking.